Is Smelling Optional?

A thought on this Anosmia Awareness Day.

Allegory of Smell (1617-18) by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Wikimedia Commons

Over the years I’ve been reflecting a lot on how presumptuous it is to think we'll always be able to smell. We don’t really appreciate it fully, do we? We just take smelling for granted. Our sense of smell is there in the background doing its thing, and we rarely stop to think about how much it truly shapes our daily life.

Until it’s gone.

Today on Anosmia Awareness Day, I’m thinking about all the people who are missing this so-called “background sense”. They navigate their daily lives without the ability to smell.

Many people who lose their sense of smell do so as adults, after an illness, an injury, or, for countless others, during COVID-19. They once knew what coffee, their home, or someone they love smelled like. For them, when the ability to smell disappears, the shift can feel totally disorienting in ways that are hard to explain. Food becomes flatter, their appetite changes, and even familiar spaces feel hollow. There’s anxiety about staying safe and being embarrassed. And certainly there’s grief for a profound loss that seems trivial to those that haven’t experienced it.

I invite you to listen to this episode of my podcast An Aromatic Life to learn more about how it feels to lose your sense of smell.

Of course, some people are born without a sense of smell. They don’t have a dramatic “loss” story. There’s no before, just never. A lifetime of navigating a world that assumes everyone has this sense. People constantly referencing smells: good, bad, comforting, alarming. It means nothing to them. There’s no reference and they just can’t relate.

Listen to this fascinating episode to get insights on what it’s like to live life when you’ve never known smells.

When you live with anosmia, you learn to adapt. You rely on labels, use-by dates, visual cues, and other people’s reactions. It’s compensating for a missing sensory layer we smellers don’t even notice we’re using.

Which brings me to us, the ones who do have a functioning nose. I don’t think we really take the time to understand how much smell actually does for us.

Smell keeps us safe: detects dangers (smoke, gas), helps us avoid spoiled food.

Smell gives us peace of mind: signals body odors and bad breath.

Smell provides comfort: bonding with loved ones, sexual closeness, and memories.

Smell connects us: to spaces, distant places, and people.

Smell nourishes: stimulates our appetite and gives flavor.

Smell supports health: mental acuity, concentration, and alerts to neurological diseases.

It works quietly, under the radar, which makes it simple to dismiss. And it certainly doesn’t help that our culture devalues it so much.

So, when someone says “I can’t smell,” it’s easy to underestimate what that actually means. Not because we don’t care. But because we haven’t recognized the role the sense of smell is playing in our own daily lives.

I would argue that Anosmia Awareness Day isn’t just about recognizing that there are people who can’t smell (although mightily important!). Maybe it’s also about us smellers understanding a little more clearly what the sense of smell is truly doing in our lives, so that when someone tells us that they don’t have it, we don’t instinctively minimize it.

“If you get everyone to focus on their sense of smell we all win, but especially those with a smell dysfunction. Why? Because when you understand the value of something, you’re more likely to empathize with those who don’t have that thing.”

For millions of people not being able to smell isn’t theoretical. It’s a lived experience that shapes how they eat, how they stay safe, how they experience closeness.

That’s worth truly understanding, isn’t it?

Let me ask you: if you lost your sense of smell, what smell(s) would you miss most?

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For Further Understanding

If you want to dive deep to better understand everything related to anosmia, I’ve put together a playlist on Spotify with all my podcast conversations around the subject. It’s free and you can listen here or click below.

Or if you’re just curious about a specific area:

Reflecting on The State of Anosmia:

#140 The State of Anosmia 2025 w/ Katie Boateng & Dia Kline

Never Known Smells (congenital anosmia):

#2: A World With No Smells w/ Dia Kline

#46: Anosmia Awareness w/ Jacob LaMendola

#50: Making Sense of Smells w/ Charlie Atkins

Lost Sense of Smell (acquired anosmia):

#15: A Journey of Smell Loss w/ Fifth Sense Founder Duncan Boak

#92: Connecting with Everyday Smells When You Have Smell Loss w/ Katie Boateng

Support

#9: The New Smell & Taste Association of North America

#52: On Being a Designated Nose

#71: Holiday Strategies for Anosmia, Hyposmia, and Parosmia

#86: Creating a Smell Squad For Those Living With a Smell Dysfunction

#87: Elevating Smell & Taste with the World Taste & Smell Association

Science & Research

#35: Olfactory Health, Dysfunction, and Research w/ Dr. Zara Patel

#45: Testing & Diagnosing Olfactory Health w/ Valentina Parma, PhD

#83: The Importance of Smell Health

#118: Celebrating the New National Smell & Taste Center

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